Using contex-awarenes to foster active lifestyles

This paper describes a context-aware mobile application which aims at adaptively motivating its users to assume active lifestyles. The application is built on a model which combines ‘motion patterns’ with ‘activity profiles’, in order to evaluate the user’s real level of activity and decide which actions to take to give advice or provide feedback. In particular, a ‘move-to-uncover’ wallpaper puzzle interface is employed as motivating interface; at the same time, context-aware notifications are triggered when low activity levels are detected. In order to accelerate the application’s design and development cycle, a mobile service oriented framework – CASanDRA Mobile - has been used and improved. CASanDRA Mobile provides standard features to facilitate context acquisition, fusion and reasoning in mobile devices, making easier access to sensors and context-aware applications cohabitatio

The future of digitally enabled health coaching : a proposed model

The epidemic of chronic diseases has started worrying health bodies. The costs of dealing with such a problem (time, money and personnel) are continuously increasing especially with an ageing population. This paper proposes a conceptual large scale digital health coaching intervention model that could be applied by any public health body to design, implement or rationalise digital health coaching solutions. The model aims to support the increase of patient empowerment and the decrease of costs by redistributing the available resources more efficiently across the whole eco-system with the use of Artificial Intelligence coaches. The model is not targeting the replacement of human presence by computers, but a coaching strategy that will enable, assist, promote interaction and help automate (where needed and possible) resource consuming processes

Motivating People with Chronic Pain to do Physical Activity: Opportunities for Technology Design

Physical activity is important for improving quality of life in people with chronic pain. However, actual or anticipated pain exacerbation, and lack of confidence when doing physical activity, make it difficult to maintain and build towards long-term activity goals. Research guiding the design of interactive technology to motivate and support physical activity in people with chronic pain is lacking. We conducted studies with: (1) people with chronic pain, to understand how they maintained and increased physical activity in daily life and what factors deterred them; and (2) pain-specialist physiotherapists, to understand how they supported people with chronic pain. Building on this understanding, we investigated the use of auditory feedback to address some of the psychological barriers and needs identified and to increase self-efficacy, motivation and confidence in physical activity. We conclude by discussing further design opportunities based on the overall findings

Quantified self-tracking, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence

The quantified self has emerged as a new framework for self-improvement using personal data analytics and multiple forms of self-tracking. This project has examined the relationships between self-tracking for both mood and time expenditures with both emotional intelligence and emotional regulatory self-efficacy in a mixed methods experimental design. Through 14 days of time and mood tracking, 12 participant’s emotional intelligence and emotional regulatory self-efficacy were examined in a pre- and post-test design; a significant (p < 0.01) relationship was observed for participants emotional regulatory self-efficacy in the domain of acting despite powerful emotions, while no other significant relationships were observed in this study. In multiple interviews, participants identified increased emotional understanding and reported some degree of behavioural change as a result. However, given the small sample size and multiple limitations, this study is only intended to serve as an exploratory framework for further research.self-trackingself-efficacyemotional intelligenceeffectivenesseducatio

Measuring and designing social mechanisms using mobile phones

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 157-168).A key challenge of data-driven social science is the gathering of high quality multi-dimensional datasets. A second challenge relates to the design and execution of social experiments in the real world that are as reliable as those within a controlled laboratory, yet yield more practical results. We introduce the Social Functional Mechanism-design and Relationship Imaging, or "SocialfMRI" - an approach that enhances existing computational social science methodologies by bridging rich data collection strategies with experimental interventions. In this thesis, we demonstrate the value of the Social fMRI approach in our Friends and Family study. We transformed a young-family residential community into a living laboratory for 15 months, through a very fine-grained and longitudinal data collection process combined with targeted experimental interventions. Through the derived dataset of unprecedented quality, the Social fMRI approach allows us to gain insights into intricate social mechanisms and interpersonal relationships within the community in ways not previously possible. This thesis delivers the following contributions: (1) A methodology combining a rich-data experimental approach together with carefully designed interventions, (2) a system supporting the methodology - implemented, field-tested, and released to the world as an open-source framework with a growing community of users, (3) a dataset collected using the system, comprising what is, to date, the richest real-world dataset of its genre, (4) a very large set of experimental findings that contribute to our understanding of important research questions in computational social science in addition to demonstrating the methodology's potential. Among the results described in this thesis are the design and evaluation of a novel mechanism for social support in a health-related context, the observation that the diffusion of mobile applications relies more on the face-to-face interaction ties than on self-perceived friendship ties, and a gained understanding of the evolution of modeling and prediction processes over time and varying sample sizes.by Nadav Aharony.Ph.D

From Context to Content: Designing Sensor Support for Reflective Learning

This thesis examines how wearable sensor systems can support reflective learning by monitoring work experiences. A design space is defined that guides designers to build systems that can provide content for reflection. Wearable sensors and applications have been developed and evaluated to capture the affective and social context in workplace settings. It is a first step towards the generation of learning content from sensor data

Environmental protection through e-regulation: critical and empirical perspectives using a rule of law analysis

Sometimes the most commonplace and uninteresting tools demand close attention because their mundane nature means that their role is misunderstood. The use of computer technology by government – specifically, by environmental regulators – is one such instance. Information and communications technology (ICT) is increasingly deployed in bureaucratic and regulatory processes throughout the developed world; as in commerce and industry, software code and databases are becoming the invisible ‘glue’ that interconnects the various actors in the regulatory system and weaves an invisible web of control between decision-makers, regulated entities and ordinary citizens. Nonetheless, this topic has received only disconnected academic attention, perhaps because there is little that seems intrinsically interesting about a database. The issues which ICT raises are not always obvious but nonetheless significant if we are to make the best use of these new tools without unwittingly sacrificing important principles. There is now a substantial body of literature on regulation and ICT. However, this focuses on either ‘information’ or ‘communications’, rarely on both together or on the use of ICT for regulation rather than something to be regulated. There are few theoretical or practical perspectives on the role of ICT in environmental regulation. This thesis applies both in combination, developing a values-based, analytical and empirically grounded framework in order to contextualise the use of ICT as a regulatory tool. The ever-increasing deployment of ICT in homes and offices, the built environment and the world at large creates significant opportunities for achieving better environmental outcomes but this new and poorly-understood development also raises questions about the proper operation of the rule of law by an increasingly computerised state. This research explores how the widespread implementation of ICT is altering power relationships in the system of environmental regulation. It asks to what extent this new capability of large-scale information capture leads to more or less control on the part of regulators, whether existing balances and imbalances of power are altered by these new tools (even when they are seen as neutral) and what happens when the ‘glue’ hardens and installed technology makes policy change difficult. The thesis critically reviews the operation of the rule of law in digitised government, the development of ICT in environmental regulation, the role of scientific information in environmental regulation and the use of disclosure as a regulatory tool. It combines theoretical perspectives from sociology, chiefly actor-network theory, with insights from semi-structured interviews with staff in regulatory agencies, non-governmental agencies and regulated entities, to build a thematic network model of how the use of ICT for information-gathering, as a means of control and as a conduit for communications is perceived by practitioners of environmental regulation. It uses this to sketch the contours of a new field of study, ‘e-regulation’, centred around the core values of the rule of law. It places this discussion in the context of a dynamic, networked and globalised social and economic environment. It concludes by discussing how to protect the rule of law in e-government, highlighting current best practice

Coupling quantified bodies: transformative play through self-quantification

One of the promises behind self-quantification is to transform the ways in which we live our lives through the collection of numerical evidence about the body and its activity. Although this process may boost self-knowledge, everyday life involves a complex network of relationships with other bodies that exert a significant, sometimes determining, influence on how we act. This complexity is poorly captured by a purely quantitative perspective that is only concerned with individual behaviour. Digital self-quantification data&amp;mdash;such as that generated by wearable activity trackers&amp;mdash;opens new possibilities to transform current unhealthy social practices, like the ones related to sedentary lifestyles. In this work, I explore how interaction designers may design self-quantification systems which support transformative play. I do so by reframing self-quantification data as something to be modulated into perturbations to other human and non-human bodies that participate in existing social practices and establish new couplings between selves. By coupling quantified bodies, a new dynamic of co-evolution through embodied interactions is enabled, which, in turn, affects the elements that realise, perform and reproduce existing social practices. Taking a research-through-design approach, I have studied three designs in everyday contexts of use, drawing from different qualitative methods such as cultural probes, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Each system puts forward different modulations of self-quantification data, enabling screen-based, tangible and embodied interactions. Firstly, I designed Watch your Steps, a shared, situated display of an individual&amp;rsquo;s number of steps for a collocated group of co-workers. Secondly, I designed Dyna, a meeting table that self-adjusts its height based on a group&amp;rsquo;s levels of activity. Finally, I designed Dataponics: Human&amp;ndash;Vegetal Play, a system in which a quantified plant receives water and light according to someone&amp;rsquo;s walking activity, then plays different music styles according to its moisture level. In these designs, self-quantification couplings were designed to enable play that transforms social practices while preserving players&amp;rsquo; autonomy and individuality. I have also tried (sometimes without success) to avoid both coercion and prescribing limited courses of action. By applying these values, these designs enabled new forms of play which in some cases had transformative power. Based on analysis of these studies, I explore some of the implications of embracing play-inspired design values to enable social change, discussing insights and design tensions when designing self-quantification systems that go beyond the self and the numbers. I also speculate about the future of self-quantification, keeping a critical distance from current self-quantification systems. With this work, I aim to expand our understanding of the transformative possibilities of play in the context of self-quantification and the transformation of social practices

Design and Application of Quantified Self Approaches for Reflective Learning in the Workplace

Learning by reflection is one of the core processes for improving work performance. We provide a novel approach for reflective learning support by transferring and adapting practices from the Quantified Self to workplace settings. This book contributes with an integrated model for technical support of reflective learning, mobile and web-based applications designed for quantifying and gathering data in the workplace, and empirical insights from thirteen studies in three different use cases

Staying active despite pain: Investigating feedback mechanisms to support physical activity in people with chronic musculoskeletal pain

Chronic (persistent) pain (CP) affects 1 in 10 adults; clinical resources are insufficient, and anxiety about activity restricts lives. Physical activity is important for improving function and quality of life in people with chronic pain, but psychological factors such as fear of increased pain and damage due to activity, lack of confidence or support, make it difficult to build and maintain physical activity towards long-term goals. There is insufficient research to guide the design of interactive technology to support people with CP in self-managing physical activity. This thesis aims to bridge this gap through five contributions: first, a detailed analysis from a plethora of qualitative studies with people with CP and physiotherapists was done to identify factors to be incorporated into technology to promote physical activity despite pain. Second, we rethink the role of technology in improving uptake of physical activity in people with CP by proposing a novel sonification framework (Go-with-the-flow) that addresses psychological and physical needs raised by our studies; through an iterative approach, we designed a wearable device to implement and evaluate the framework. In control studies conducted to evaluate the sonification strategies, people with CP reported increased performance, motivation, awareness of movement, and relaxation with sound feedback. A focus group, and a survey of CP patients conducted at the end of a hospital pain management session provided an in-depth understanding of how different aspects of the framework and device facilitate self-directed rehabilitation. Third, we understand the role of sensing technology and real-time feedback in supporting functional activity, using the Go-with-the-flow framework and wearable device; we conducted evaluations including contextual interviews, diary studies and a 7-14 days study of self-directed home-based use of the device by people with CP. Fourth, building on the understanding from all our studies and literature from other conditions where physical rehabilitation is critical, we propose a framework for designing technology for physical rehabilitation (RaFT). Fifth, we reflect on our studies with people with CP and physiotherapists and provide practical insights for HCI research in sensitive settings